School of thought
Zoroastrianism
Tradition
Classification
- Period
- c. 1000 BCE onward
- Regions
- middle east
- Domains
- Ethics , Philosophy of Religion
Overview
Zoroastrianism is a continuing Iranian religious tradition rooted in the Gathas, hymns traditionally attributed to Zarathustra (Zoroaster). His date remains disputed: estimates range from about 1200 to 600 BCE, so this entry uses about 1000 BCE as a midpoint rather than an exact foundation date. The Gathas center Ahura Mazda, the opposition between Asha (truth and right order) and Druj (falsehood), and the moral weight of human choice. They do not, however, contain every doctrine found in later Zoroastrian sources.
Later Avestan and Middle Persian traditions elaborated a cosmic conflict between Ohrmazd and Ahriman, detailed judgments after death, bodily resurrection, and the final renovation (Frashokereti). Some eschatological themes are already present in the Gathas, but their fully developed accounts survive mainly in much later sources. Scholars have argued that Iranian eschatology influenced Second Temple Jewish thought and, through it, Christianity and Islam, but the extent and direction of borrowing remain disputed precisely because the fullest Zoroastrian texts are later than the earliest Jewish evidence.
Key ideas
- Asha and Druj: The early hymns contrast truth and right order with falsehood and call people to align their thought, speech, and action with Asha.
- Moral Choice: Human choices carry consequences for the person and participate in the wider struggle between good and evil.
- Developed Cosmic Dualism: Later sources give a fuller cosmology of conflict between Ohrmazd and Ahriman than the early hymns alone provide.
- Judgment and Final Renovation: Zoroastrian eschatology developed accounts of judgment after death, resurrection, and a final restored world in which evil no longer causes harm.
Key figures
Zoroaster (Zarathustra)
Later connections
- Patristics Influenced by this tradition
Zoroastrian eschatology, cosmic dualism, and angelology may have shaped early Christian thought through centuries of Persian–Jewish contact.
References
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, Chronology of Iranian History, part 1 (Zarathustra's date is disputed, with estimates from c. 1200 to c. 600 BCE)
- Prods Oktor Skjærvø, “Zoroastrianism I. Historical Review up to the Arab Conquest,” Encyclopaedia Iranica
- Shaul Shaked, “Eschatology I. In Zoroastrianism and Zoroastrian Influence,” Encyclopaedia Iranica
- The Gathas — Zoroaster (trans. Stanley Insler)
- The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism — R.C. Zaehner